Crispy Chicken Breasts With Spinach And Green Pumpkin Seed Sauce Recipes

QUICK CRISPY PARMESAN CHICKEN BREASTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
• Whisk bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, paprika, salt, and black pepper together in a shallow bowl. Stir butter, white wine, mustard, and garlic together in another bowl.
• Dip each chicken breast half into melted butter mixture; press into bread crumb mixture to evenly coat. Place breaded chicken in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Pat any leftover bread crumb mixture onto chicken breasts.
• Bake chicken in the preheated oven until no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center should read at least 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).

CRISPY CHICKEN WITH CREAMED SPINACH GRAVY

Steps:

• Place a baking sheet on the middle oven rack; preheat to 200˚ F. Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until 1/4 inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
• Put 1 cup flour on a plate. Beat the eggs in shallow bowl. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, then add the vegetable oil. Coat 2 chicken breasts in the flour, then dip in the beaten eggs. Carefully add to the skillet and cook until golden brown and cooked through, about 3 minutes per side (reduce the heat slightly if the chicken is browning too quickly). Remove the chicken to the hot pan in the oven. Repeat with the remaining 2 chicken breasts.
• Discard the oil and wipe out the skillet. Add the butter and melt over medium-high heat. Whisk in the remaining 1/4 cup flour; cook, whisking, until the mixture is bubbling but not browning, 1 to 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk, then the chicken broth until smooth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until thickened, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the spinach and Parmesan and cook until heated through and well combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon zest and nutmeg; season with salt and pepper. Serve over the chicken.

SPICY GRILLED CHICKEN WITH PUMPKIN-SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, and jalapeno; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Add pumpkin seeds; cook, stirring often, until puffed, about 5 minutes. Add lettuce, vinegar, and 1 cup water; season with 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until lettuce is tender, about 10 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a blender; add cilantro. Blend on high speed until sauce is very smooth, about 3 minutes. Thin sauce with 2 to 4 tablespoons more water, if needed (it should be pourable).
• Meanwhile, heat grill to medium high; oil grates. Rub chicken with remaining tablespoon oil; season generously with salt and pepper. Grill, turning once, until browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Serve with sauce.

CHICKEN IN PUMPKIN SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the chicken in a pot with just enough water to cover. Sprinkle with salt, and add the peppercorns, bay leaves, quartered onion and herb bundle. Bring to a low boil, and then reduce the heat and poach the chicken until cooked through, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the chicken, straining the stock, and then wipe the pot clean and return to the heat. Peel the skin off the chicken breasts and cover to keep warm until the sauce is ready. Dry toast the pumpkin seeds over medium heat until puffed and toasted, 4 to 5 minutes. Reserve 1/4 cup of the toasted seeds for garnish. Puree the remaining seeds in a blender or food processor with 1 cup of the stock, the chopped onion, EVOO, cumin, epazote, if using, cinnamon, tomatillos, lettuce, garlic and chiles. Transfer the pumpkin seed puree to the pot with 2 1/2 to 3 cups of the reserved chicken stock and simmer to develop flavor and thicken, 20 minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnishreserved toasted pumpkin seeds. Serve with warm corn tortillas, for wrapping, and minced red onion, for topping. If you would like to serve with a vegetable, steamed or sauteed zucchini is perfect.

CHICKEN WITH PUMPKIN SEEDS

Steps:

• Put chicken in a pot in which it fits snugly, with salt, pepper, carrot, onion, celery and water to barely cover. Cover, bring to boil and adjust heat for a steady simmer. Cook until chicken is almost done, about 40 minutes. (It's all right if some traces of blood remain.)
• Meanwhile, toast seeds, if not already toasted, in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking and stirring constantly for a minute or two, until seeds start to puff. (Overcooking will make sauce bitter; seeds may pop.)
• Remove chicken; strain and reserve stock. Cool chicken, remove meat from bones, shred by hand. (This can all be done a day or so in advance.) Soak chilies in 3 cups of hot stock until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove stems and seeds and put the flesh in a blender, with pumpkin seeds, garlic and enough stock to let machine work; purée.
• Combine the sauce, chicken, the liquid in which the chilies soaked, and about a cup of the remaining stock (or a little water) in saucepan and cook gently until heated through and thick, 10 to 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and, just before serving, some lime juice. Garnish with cilantro. Serve with white rice.

CRISPY CHICKEN BREASTS WITH SPINACH-AND-GREEN-PUMPKIN-SEED SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the sauce: Bring a large kettle 2/3 full of lightly salted water to a boil and add the spinach. Cook until the spinach is wilted, about 1 minute. Immediately drain and plunge the spinach into a large bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool, drain the spinach and squeeze it with your hands to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a blender and add the seeds, tarragon, parsley, garlic, zest and stock. Season with salt and pepper and process until very smooth. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil. Set aside.
• To make the chicken, halve each breast. Using a sharp knife, score the skin of each in 3 places and sprinkle each breast with a pinch of red-pepper flakes and salt and pepper.
• Heat 2 large, heavy skillets, preferably cast iron, over high heat until very hot. Spray or brush skin side of each breast with olive oil and place skin-side down in one of the skillets. Spray the top of the breasts with oil and place the second skillet on top of the breasts, weighing it down with a foil-covered brick or a similar weight. Lower the heat to medium and cook until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes depending on thickness.
• To serve, gently heat the sauce over low heat. Pour a pool of sauce on each of 4 dinner plates. Slice the chicken breasts on the bias and fan the slices over the sauce and serve immediately with mashed beans or mashed potatoes.